Turkey coup?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/t...rder-kz3mg8stj
Turkish troops occupy buffer zone on Syrian border
Turkish troops are preparing to enter a strip of northern Syria currently controlled by Kurdish forces to patrol a buffer zone set up under an agreement with the US.
The so-called “safe zone”, which will stretch 500 miles along Syria’s frontier with Turkey, will put distance between Turkish soil and a Kurdish militia that Ankara regards as a terrorist group. The area where Turkish soldiers will be present will extend from the border up to three miles inside Syria, according to a report on the Turkish news channel HaberTurk. Beyond that will be a second strip of seven miles where only US soldiers will patrol, followed by a further 2.5 miles cleared of the Kurds’ heavy weaponry.
The Turkish-patrolled strip will be far narrower than the 20 miles originally demanded by President Erdogan. Nonetheless, it will double the Turkish army’s area of operations inside the warzone. The deal was struck earlier this month following threats from Ankara of a military offensive fand frantic diplomacy on the part of the US, which is supporting the Kurdish YPG. It has averted a crisis which could have seen Turkish troops clashing with American forces.......
Turkey already controls two zones in northern Syria covering a total area of about 1,500 square miles, which it seized in military operations against Isis, in late 2016, and the YPG, in early 2018. Turkish troops are also present in Idlib, the last rebel-held province where President Assad and his Russian backers are currently waging a huge offensive. Ankara controls 12 military points in rebel territory along the frontline with Assad, which were set up under a ceasefire agreement with Russia.
Mr Assad has never accepted the presence of Turkish boots on Syrian soil, however, describing it as an invasion of sovereign territory and vowing to seize back the whole country. One of the bases has now been surrounded by his forces and the Turkish flag lowered, while a second was targeted in airstrikes which narrowly missed it on Wednesday morning.
There is growing disquiet among Turkish top brass over Ankara’s growing embroilment in the Syrian quagmire. Five generals resigned earlier this week, including the commander and deputy commander of the Idlib operations.
Turkish troops occupy buffer zone on Syrian border
Turkish troops are preparing to enter a strip of northern Syria currently controlled by Kurdish forces to patrol a buffer zone set up under an agreement with the US.
The so-called “safe zone”, which will stretch 500 miles along Syria’s frontier with Turkey, will put distance between Turkish soil and a Kurdish militia that Ankara regards as a terrorist group. The area where Turkish soldiers will be present will extend from the border up to three miles inside Syria, according to a report on the Turkish news channel HaberTurk. Beyond that will be a second strip of seven miles where only US soldiers will patrol, followed by a further 2.5 miles cleared of the Kurds’ heavy weaponry.
The Turkish-patrolled strip will be far narrower than the 20 miles originally demanded by President Erdogan. Nonetheless, it will double the Turkish army’s area of operations inside the warzone. The deal was struck earlier this month following threats from Ankara of a military offensive fand frantic diplomacy on the part of the US, which is supporting the Kurdish YPG. It has averted a crisis which could have seen Turkish troops clashing with American forces.......
Turkey already controls two zones in northern Syria covering a total area of about 1,500 square miles, which it seized in military operations against Isis, in late 2016, and the YPG, in early 2018. Turkish troops are also present in Idlib, the last rebel-held province where President Assad and his Russian backers are currently waging a huge offensive. Ankara controls 12 military points in rebel territory along the frontline with Assad, which were set up under a ceasefire agreement with Russia.
Mr Assad has never accepted the presence of Turkish boots on Syrian soil, however, describing it as an invasion of sovereign territory and vowing to seize back the whole country. One of the bases has now been surrounded by his forces and the Turkish flag lowered, while a second was targeted in airstrikes which narrowly missed it on Wednesday morning.
There is growing disquiet among Turkish top brass over Ankara’s growing embroilment in the Syrian quagmire. Five generals resigned earlier this week, including the commander and deputy commander of the Idlib operations.
So long as there was a NOTAM, what's the problem? Their airspace, their risk assessment.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,866
Received 2,816 Likes
on
1,200 Posts
ORAC,
Seeing as the border being discussed is that between Syria and TURKEY, I guess that the Turks will have their own radar cover of their own airspace and border, so cut out of nothing.
Seeing as the border being discussed is that between Syria and TURKEY, I guess that the Turks will have their own radar cover of their own airspace and border, so cut out of nothing.
You'll know if they are not your own...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,866
Received 2,816 Likes
on
1,200 Posts
And once again, the West throws the Kurds under a bus having first used them for their own ends. That makes 4 times that I can think of in recent history. I’m surprised they still even talk to us.
The one thing Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq all agree on is that the Kurds will never be allowed to have their own state or be fully accepted into the community.
So whenever the Kurds think they have found someone who will help them, they find that eventually those other countries are willing to cut deals to prevent that support from enduring.
I have read that Israel has been a fairly steadfast provider of training and perhaps more to the Kurds, but suspect that relationship too has had its ups and downs.
The Kurds are used to betrayal. It is the result of living as an unassimilated minority in a very fractured part of the world.
The one thing Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq all agree on is that the Kurds will never be allowed to have their own state or be fully accepted into the community.
So whenever the Kurds think they have found someone who will help them, they find that eventually those other countries are willing to cut deals to prevent that support from enduring.
I have read that Israel has been a fairly steadfast provider of training and perhaps more to the Kurds, but suspect that relationship too has had its ups and downs.
The one thing Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq all agree on is that the Kurds will never be allowed to have their own state or be fully accepted into the community.
So whenever the Kurds think they have found someone who will help them, they find that eventually those other countries are willing to cut deals to prevent that support from enduring.
I have read that Israel has been a fairly steadfast provider of training and perhaps more to the Kurds, but suspect that relationship too has had its ups and downs.
I was mildly enraged that the BBC tonight referred to the PKK as separatists; they are terrorists and proscribed as such in almost every Western country. The UK (Met SO15) are very active in breaking up PKK cells, mainly in London.
I have little sympathy for the Kurds.
No chicken coup, that's for sure.
Turkey's Syrian FSA 'rebels' in the front line vs the SDF rebels.
Turkey's Syrian FSA 'rebels' in the front line vs the SDF rebels.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...rkey-sanctions
"I am pleased to have reached a bipartisan agreement with Senator @ChrisVanHollen on severe sanctions against Turkey for their invasion of Syria," Graham said in a tweet announcing the deal. He added that "while the Administration refuses to act against Turkey, I expect strong bipartisan support. ... Most Members of Congress believe it would be wrong to abandon the Kurds who have been strong allies against ISIS." ......
The deal between the two senators comes after they announced Monday that they were working on sanctions legislation following Trump's decision to yank U.S. troops out of northern Syria ahead of a planned Turkish military operation. Turkey began airstrikes and shelling against Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Wednesday and, hours later, moved ground troops into the country after Trump pulled back U.S. troops.
Congress is currently out of town as part of a two-week recess. But Van Hollen said on Wednesday that they will introduce legislation next week and want a quick vote. "This sanctions bill will be introduced as soon as Congress returns. Will ask for an immediate vote to send a clear message to Turkey that it must cease and desist its military action, withdraw its fighters from the areas under attack, and stop the tragic loss of life," he said.
The bill, according to a fact sheet shared by Graham, would sanction any assets of Turkish leadership, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, within U.S. jurisdiction. The bill would also target Turkey's energy sector and military, including sanctions against "any foreign person who sells or provides financial, material, or technological support or knowingly does a transaction with Turkish military." It would also prohibit U.S. military sales to Turkey and restrict the ability for Turkey's leadership to travel to the United States.
"Today @LindseyGrahamSC and I are announcing a framework for sanctions against Turkey to respond to their military operation in northeastern Syria, which is already underway. These sanctions will have immediate, far-reaching consequences for Erdogan and his military,"
.
Trump is facing fierce backlash from both sides of the aisle for his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria. Lawmakers warn that it could bolster ISIS and endanger the Kurds, who have allied with the United States to fight the terrorist organization. Under the bill, sanctions against Turkey would remain in effect until the administration certifies to lawmakers that Ankara has withdrawn its forces from Syria.
Trump distanced himself from Turkey's military operation earlier Wednesday and indicated that he would support additional sanctions.
“I think Lindsey would like to stay there for the next 200 years and maybe add a couple a hundred of thousand people every place, but I disagree with Lindsey on that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But I will tell you that I do agree on sanctions, but I actually think much tougher than sanctions if [Erdoğan] doesn’t do it in as humane a way as possible.”
Graham, Van Hollen announce new Turkey sanctions
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Wednesday announced that they have reached an agreement on new sanctions against Turkey after the country launched a military operation in northern Syria."I am pleased to have reached a bipartisan agreement with Senator @ChrisVanHollen on severe sanctions against Turkey for their invasion of Syria," Graham said in a tweet announcing the deal. He added that "while the Administration refuses to act against Turkey, I expect strong bipartisan support. ... Most Members of Congress believe it would be wrong to abandon the Kurds who have been strong allies against ISIS." ......
The deal between the two senators comes after they announced Monday that they were working on sanctions legislation following Trump's decision to yank U.S. troops out of northern Syria ahead of a planned Turkish military operation. Turkey began airstrikes and shelling against Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Wednesday and, hours later, moved ground troops into the country after Trump pulled back U.S. troops.
Congress is currently out of town as part of a two-week recess. But Van Hollen said on Wednesday that they will introduce legislation next week and want a quick vote. "This sanctions bill will be introduced as soon as Congress returns. Will ask for an immediate vote to send a clear message to Turkey that it must cease and desist its military action, withdraw its fighters from the areas under attack, and stop the tragic loss of life," he said.
The bill, according to a fact sheet shared by Graham, would sanction any assets of Turkish leadership, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, within U.S. jurisdiction. The bill would also target Turkey's energy sector and military, including sanctions against "any foreign person who sells or provides financial, material, or technological support or knowingly does a transaction with Turkish military." It would also prohibit U.S. military sales to Turkey and restrict the ability for Turkey's leadership to travel to the United States.
"Today @LindseyGrahamSC and I are announcing a framework for sanctions against Turkey to respond to their military operation in northeastern Syria, which is already underway. These sanctions will have immediate, far-reaching consequences for Erdogan and his military,"
Our bill includes sanctions on:
→ Turkey's political leadership
→ Military transactions with Turkey
→ Turkey's domestic energy sector
It will also:
→ Prohibit U.S. military support for Turkey
→ Trigger 2017 CAATSA sanctions
→ Restrict U.S. visas for Turkish leadership https://t.co/nugcPRlMFD
— Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) October 9, 2019
→ Turkey's political leadership
→ Military transactions with Turkey
→ Turkey's domestic energy sector
It will also:
→ Prohibit U.S. military support for Turkey
→ Trigger 2017 CAATSA sanctions
→ Restrict U.S. visas for Turkish leadership https://t.co/nugcPRlMFD
— Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) October 9, 2019
Trump distanced himself from Turkey's military operation earlier Wednesday and indicated that he would support additional sanctions.
“I think Lindsey would like to stay there for the next 200 years and maybe add a couple a hundred of thousand people every place, but I disagree with Lindsey on that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But I will tell you that I do agree on sanctions, but I actually think much tougher than sanctions if [Erdoğan] doesn’t do it in as humane a way as possible.”
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,866
Received 2,816 Likes
on
1,200 Posts
Hmmmmmmm Sanctions, Putin will be rubbing his hand with glee while offering support with the other. Trump wants locking away where he can't do any harm.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
The New York Times reports that the US is finally "reviewing plans" to flush the WS3 nuclear weapons storage vault at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey...
The weeks events remind me of Dale Brown's Rogue Forces (another Patrick McLanahan Sky Masters/Dreamland high tech thriller) written a decade ago shows how Turkey (having been sold surplus A-10 Warthogs and F-15E Strike Eagles atop of their inventory) wants to wipe out PPK and Kurds by invading northern Iraq. Counteracting US troops backed by by Sky Masters Inc with their flying wing cargo a/c (based on X- something or another) with a laser defeats the rogue Turks
https://www.dalebrown.info/21.htm
Oh and in the book TuAF F-4E 'Terminator' filled with ECM gear, jams the allied forces and gets a taste of a laser thanks to the Sky Masters Inc.
In weird twist in the real world, a TuAF F-4E Termintor ends up being shot down by the Syrians in 2012
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...s_basic_planit
Cheers
https://www.dalebrown.info/21.htm
Oh and in the book TuAF F-4E 'Terminator' filled with ECM gear, jams the allied forces and gets a taste of a laser thanks to the Sky Masters Inc.
In weird twist in the real world, a TuAF F-4E Termintor ends up being shot down by the Syrians in 2012
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...s_basic_planit
Cheers
Last edited by chopper2004; 15th Oct 2019 at 10:14.
Was the operative word not 'quietly'?
https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/11...530738693?s=20
The New York Times reports that the US is finally "reviewing plans" to flush the WS3 nuclear weapons storage vault at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey...
The New York Times reports that the US is finally "reviewing plans" to flush the WS3 nuclear weapons storage vault at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey...
Cheers